


Blue Diamond

by Mattecat



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-04-27 15:22:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5053861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mattecat/pseuds/Mattecat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Crystal Gems never recovered Blue Diamond after the war. They find her five thousand years later.</p><p>(Summary may be subject to change.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> here's some background information: I found a list of common tropes and cliches in fanfiction and decided to write the Worst SU Fic Ever, featuring all 18 (24???) of my ships, simultaneously. turns out, I can't write something if I don't enjoy it, so I did my best to make it a fic I would enjoy. then uh. this happened? it's nothing like what I had planned?
> 
> so yeah! here's a fic that is vaguely inspired by a bunch of tropes/cliches, and is Most Definitely inspired by a whole ton of ships. I'll be adding them to the tags as the characters appear & interact, I just don't want to put, say, garnet/pearl in the tags and then having someone looking for garnet/pearl only to find out that garnet doesn't even appear in the first chapter. I'll add the ships when they come up.
> 
> for those who are a fan of my peridot redemption fic: don't worry I'm still gonna finish it, and I'm still aiming for my goal of finishing it by the winter holidays, I just had to get this out of my system. and, uh, I still gotta get it out of my system. so I'll be working on both at the same time.
> 
> this was written before I saw the episode "Too Far" so peridot doesn't have her tape recorder. my apologies to peridot.

No one usually called the beach house's home phone; Steven had his own cellphone, and the gems usually didn't get too closely involved with humans for any to want to call them. So when the phone rang, it surprised all four of them in the middle of breakfast.

Peridot was the most startled. "What is that!" she shouted, jumping off her seat and onto the counter, staring at where the phone hang on the wall.

"It's our phone," Steven said through a mouthful of cereal. "Who d'you think it is, Pearl?"

"I... don't know," said Pearl, standing up from where she sat reading the newspaper. "I'll answer it."

Amethyst had looked up when the phone rang, but once Pearl went to answer it she lay her head back down on the couch, having lost interest. She stared at the ceiling, not paying attention to what Pearl said until she heard her say, "Vidalia?"

"What?" Amethyst jerked her head up again.

"Who's Vidalia?" Peridot asked.

"I can't understand what you're saying," Pearl said into the phone, a worried expression cast over her face. "Yes, she's here. I... alright."

She covered the receiver and spoke quickly to Amethyst: "Vidalia wants to talk to you."

Amethyst got up and quickly crossed the short distance across the room to Pearl, who handed her the phone. "Hey, Vidalia!" she said, keeping her tone light. "What's up?"

"Amethyst, oh thank god!"

Vidalia's voice was panicked, and Amethyst knew something was wrong. "Hey, hey," she said. "What's going on? What happened?"

"Sour Cream! He went out with his friends, and now he's gone missing!" Vidalia choked down a sob. "I went to the police," she said, "but since they're all adults, they won't search for them yet. Ha! Sour Cream turned eighteen last month! That's hardly adulthood!"

"His friends? You mean Buck and Jenny?" She had never seen – well, heard – Vidalia like this before. Amethyst had no idea what to say, but she knew she had to say something. "You've talked to the other kids' parents, right?"

"Of course! They're just as worried as I am! But if the police won't help, we don't know what to do!" Vidalia took a deep breath. "You're the only one I can think of to go to now. Can you help me find them?"

"Well, yeah, of course! I'd do anything to help you out, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, yeah." She laughed, but it was a forced laugh, Amethyst could tell. "I'd be out there searching right now, but I've got Onion to think about. Yellowtail's on his way home, but he won't be back until late. When can you be here?"

"I'll be over in no time, V."

"Thank you."

She hung up. Amethyst handed the phone to Pearl and immediately started heading out the door.

"Amethyst, wait!" Pearl said. "What's going on? Why are you going out to meet Vidalia?"

Amethyst groaned. "I don't have _time_ for this. Sour Cream and his friends went missing, and I've got to help Vidalia find them."

"What!" Steven slammed his spoon on the counter and jumped down from his stool. "Amethyst, let me help, too!"

"Steven, you wait, too." Pearl turned back to Amethyst. "How about we all wait until Garnet gets back," she said. "Then we –"

"No way!" Amethyst interrupted. "Vidalia needs my help now!"

"No ones told me who Vidalia is," Peridot said, annoyed.

"She's Amethyst's friend," Steven said. "And Sour Cream's my friend! So are Buck and Jenny! So can I help, Amethyst?"

"Sure, Steven, the more the merrier, right?"

Pearl inhaled slowly and put a hand to her face. "I really don't want to be left here watching Peridot alone," she said.

Peridot rolled her eyes, but didn't react otherwise. "So what?" said Amethyst. "You can handle her!"

"That doesn't mean I _like_ to."

"Guys," said Steven. "I have an idea. Pearl, you and Peridot can come with us!"

Pearl and Peridot looked at each other.

"If it gets us out of here faster," Amethyst grumbled.

* * *

Vidalia was waiting for them outside her garage, holding her shotgun. "Amethyst!" she called out. "I didn't expect you to bring the others."

Amethyst shrugged. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all, more help is good! Hey, Pearl, Steven." Her eyes fell on Peridot. "I don't think I've met you before. Are you one of the gems?"

Peridot crossed her arms. "I am _a_ gem, correct. I am Peridot."

"She came from space and got stuck here and then she helped us stop a horrible abomination from blowing up the earth!" Steven said. "Kablam!"

Vidalia laughed. "I'm glad you're cheerful, Steven. Hey now –" She kneeled down to eye level with him. "– I have an important job for you, kiddo."

"Really? What is it?"

"I need you to hang out with Onion while I go out with the others to look for Sour Cream."

Steven's expression faltered for a moment, but then he gave her a determined nod. "Okay."

"Great. Thanks, Steven." Vidalia straightened up and adjusted her grip on her shotgun. "Alright, folks. Kofi says the last thing Jenny told him before she left was that she was going to the other side of town, so that's where we're going. It's a bit of a walk for my old bones, so we'll be taking the car. Steven, let's go inside for a moment, I'll give you my cell number so you can text me if you need to."

Steven nodded again and followed her inside. Once they were gone, Pearl frowned.

"This is fairly serious, isn't it?" she said.

"Kinda?" said Amethyst. "I mean, this is her kid we're talking about."

"But to bring a gun with her..."

"What's a gun?" said Peridot.

"A weapon," said Amethyst.

Peridot started. "What! You're telling me this human was holding a weapon in front of us the _entire time?_ And we let Steven go _alone_ with her?!"

"Relax, Dot, she'd never hurt him."

Peridot turned to Pearl for confirmation. She nodded. "Amethyst is right, Peridot. Vidalia is just... preparing for the worst, I suppose."

"Sure doesn't hurt to be prepared," said Amethyst.

"You got that right, Amethyst," Vidalia said, emerging from the house. Her expression was much more grim, now. "I'm hoping I won't have to use this, but if my kid's been kidnapped or worse, well, I'll leave that up to your imaginations."

Pearl winced. "I'm sure they'll be alright," she said.

"Yeah, well, if they are, all three of them are gonna be in big trouble for making their families worry this much."

Peridot was still tense, but she went with the others as they walked around to the front of the house and got in Vidalia's car. Steven and Onion waved to them from the window as they drove away.

"Kofi and his family are already out looking," Vidalia said while they drove. "We're gonna be driving out past where they are and seeing if we can find the Pizza's car. The kids took it out and never brought it back."

"So if we can find the car, they can't have gone far from it." Amethyst frowned. "What if they took the car outside of Beach City, though?"

"Bill's got that covered. He's searching outside the city limits."

"Who's Bill?" asked Pearl.

"Bill Dewey, the mayor."

"Oh."

They all fell silent after that, Amethyst sitting up front next to Vidalia, while Pearl and Peridot sat in the back seat. Once they had been driving for a minute or so, Vidalia slowed the car down and said, "Alright, keep a lookout, now. It's a yellow convertible with a mushroom and pepperoni design. Pretty hard to miss."

"Got it," said Amethyst.

"I know what 'yellow' is," said Peridot. "I don't know what those other things are."

"Well, three pairs of eyes are better than one," Vidalia said.

They drove slowly down the streets, Amethyst hanging out the window. Peridot fidgeted in the backseat and grumbled, and Pearl had to shush her several times.

Finally, Amethyst said, "Hey, I think I see it!"

"I see it, too!" Vidalia hit the gas and the car jerked forward. Peridot yelped in surprise and clung to Pearl's arm.

They pulled up behind the missing car, next to a run down old house. Vidalia parked the car and got out with her shotgun, running up to check the car. Amethyst followed close behind. Pearl opened the car door and said, "You can let go of me now, Peridot."

Peridot relinquished her grip on Pearl's arm and followed her out. "In my defense," she said, "I didn't expect it to move that fast."

The house was large, shaped like a giant L. The yard was all overgrown with tall weeds and grasses. Vidalia stared at the entrance, her hands on her hips. "Looks abandoned," she said. "Did they go in there?"

"Looks like the door's already been busted open," Amethyst said, pointing.

"Is that what cool kids do these days? Explore abandoned buildings? Damn, Sour Cream's going to be in so much trouble once I find him." Vidalia sighed. "I'll go put this back," she said, gesturing with one hand at her shotgun. "I figured they'd been kidnapped, but doesn't look like that's the case."

After putting the gun in the trunk, Vidalia stomped up to the front door and kicked it open.

The inside of the house was empty, the floors covered in dust. Graffiti covered the walls, too distorted to make out the words. Vidalia sneezed.

"Alright," she said. "Hey! Sour Cream! You in here?"

Silence, save for the creaking of the floor as Amethyst, Pearl, and Peridot walked in. "Kinda neat in here," Amethyst commented.

"Yeah, bet that's exactly why those kids wanted to check it out." Vidalia walked forward. "I'm just worried they went and got themselves hurt. Sour Cream! Buck! Jenny!"

There were stairs just to their left. Amethyst put her foot on the first step and pressed down. A horrible creak pierced the room. Pearl covered her ears. "Amethyst!"

"Whoops!" She took her foot off it. "Think we should split up?" she said, turning back to the others.

Vidalia shrugged. "Don't see the harm. We can cover more ground that way. Amethyst, you mind coming with me?"

"Course not, yo. Upstairs or down?"

"Let's try upstairs first."

"Got it."

Pearl and Peridot looked less than thrilled to be paired up on their own, but Pearl agreed for them to search the downstairs. Amethyst and Vidalia headed upstairs, Amethyst making sure to press her foot hard against that first creaky step.

The first door they opened led to what might've been a bedroom, with a bathroom to their right. Amethyst checked out the bathroom while Vidalia looked in all the closets to make sure the room really was empty. "No one's in here," Amethyst called back.

"Alright, let's check the next room."

They were walking down the hall to the next room when they heard a scream.

Instinctively, Amethyst summoned her weapon, pulling her whip out of her gem. "Peridot," she said. "That was Peridot."

Vidalia stiffened. Amethyst quickly attempted to reassure her. "Don't worry," she said. "I bet they just, uh, knocked something over. Peridot's always been pretty jumpy."

"So why did you have that whip?"

"Sure doesn't hurt to be prepared!"

Vidalia chuckled, and they headed quickly in the direction they had heard the scream.

Across the hall and through another room, there was another set of stairs. Peridot nearly barreled into them coming up the other way. "Whoa, slow down!" Amethyst said. "What happened? Where's Pearl?"

"There was a gem!" Peridot shouted.

"A gem? Like, a corrupted gem? Or –"

"Just a gem!" Peridot was trembling all over. "We found a jacket, and there was a gem inside it, and when Pearl touched it, she disappeared!"

"What do you mean, 'disappeared?'" Amethyst said, harsher than she intended. Peridot flinched back at her tone. "Did she get poofed?"

"No! She just disappeared, gem and all!"

Amethyst took a deep breath, and said, "Show me where it is. We'll figure out what to do."

Peridot nodded and squeaked out, "Okay."

She led Amethyst and Vidalia back down the stairs, and around the corner to another staircase leading to the basement. The door was still half-open, and the stairs led down into darkness.

"Smells like water damage," Vidalia said.

"It's way too dark down there." Amethyst frowned. "Anyone got a flashlight?"

"What's a –"

"Never mind," Amethyst said, interrupting Peridot before she could finish her sentence. "I've got it covered."

Her gem began to emit a soft glow, lighting up the surrounding area. With the light problem solved, she marched down the steps, Peridot and Vidalia following behind.

The basement was huge, and smelled horrible. Amethyst wrinkled her nose. "Where's the gem?"

"That way." Peridot pointed. On the ground some distance away lay a red jacket, and next to it was a large, cyan gem.

Amethyst walked closer to it. The light from her own gem made the other gem glitter. Peridot squeaked in fear. "Don't touch it!"

"Relax, Dot." She knelt down close to it. It was rectangular, and semi-translucent. "Yep, that sure is a gem. Pearl must've tried to bubble it, and then..."

She trailed off. Meanwhile, Vidalia went past her and picked up the jacket.

"This is Buck's jacket," she said. "They were definitely here."

"The gem was wrapped up in that thing," Peridot said. "I don't know why."

"Bet it was so they could carry it without touching it," Amethyst said, realization dawning over her. "The kids must've found the gem, then they touched it, and..."

" _Then_ what happened?" Vidalia demanded.

Amethyst shook her head. "I've seen Pearl keep stuff inside her gem," she said. "Stuff like duct tape and other junk. Maybe they're inside it?"

"I doubt it," Peridot said. "It takes concentration to allow a foreign object inside your gem. It can't be done without being aware of it. I think they were warped."

"How? You can't warp someone without a warp pad!" Amethyst was quickly losing control of her emotions; she just wanted to scream and attack the gem until it broke in half and let Pearl and the humans _out_. She could tell Vidalia felt the same way."

Peridot glared at her. "I was here! I saw it happen! Pearl touched the gem, and then her form broke up and vanished! Just as if she used a warp pad!"

Amethyst threw her arms up in the air. "Okay, fine, maybe she was warped. What kind of gem can warp people just by touching it? What kind of _anything_ can warp people just by touching it?"

"It's definitely a gem." Peridot knelt down beside Amethyst, though farther away from the gem in question. "We just have to identify it."

There was a long silence as they stared at the gem.

"Uh," Amethyst said, "I don't know how to identify gems."

Peridot frowned. "Sapphires definitely can't warp," she said. "I doubt it's Lapis, they're shaped differently... doesn't look like either of those, anyway."

"Looks like a diamond," Vidalia commented.

After a moment of stunned silence, Peridot laughed. "Don't be ridiculous, it can't be a _Diamond,_ " she said. "There are no Diamonds on Earth! It's impossible, right, Amethyst?"

Amethyst was staring at the gem in horror. Slowly, she straightened up, and backed away.

"We never found Blue Diamond," she said.

"What are you talking about?"

"After the war," Amethyst said. "Garnet n' Pearl found White Diamond, but we could never find Blue Diamond. This must be her."

"That's impossible," Peridot said immediately. "Blue Diamond was never on this planet! Neither was White Diamond, for that matter! They were lost in –"

"They were _here,_ " Amethyst said sharply. "When we get back, I can get Garnet to show you White Diamond's gem, if you want proof!"

Peridot paled and backed away. "No," she said, her voice trembling. "That can't be true. You _clods_ can't possibly be keeping a Diamond trapped in your bubble dungeon!"

Amethyst sighed. "Look, it doesn't matter, they're all corrupted anyway –"

"It absolutely does matter!" Peridot shrieked. "You – you _traitors_ , you –"

"Right now, what matters is _getting Pearl and everyone else back!_ " Amethyst shouted.

Peridot was about to shout back at her when the gem began to glow.

Amethyst turned to it and froze. "Oh no," she said as the gem lifted off the ground and hovered in the air. "This is bad, this is really bad – Vidalia, get out of here!"

Vidalia hesitated. "And leave you here by yourself?"

"Diamond or not, this is a corrupted gem! It's gonna turn into a horrible monster! Get out of here! And take Peridot with you!"

"What?!" Peridot exclaimed. "I won't – hey!"

Vidalia picked Peridot up and tucked her under her arm before running back up the stairs, Peridot struggling and shouting the whole way. Amethyst turned her attention to the regenerating gem, gripping her whip tight.

Light spread out from the gem, forming a humanoid shape with the gem in the chest. That's right, Amethyst thought. Then the corruption would set in, and they'd regenerate into a monster. And she would have to fight it alone.

No problem, right? She was a gem warrior! She could handle one corrupted gem! Amethyst forced herself to smirk, and the action gave her some confidence. Yeah, she could handle this!

The light glitched and trembled, but the humanoid form was still clear. Amethyst's smirk wavered. This wasn't normal. She watched as the light cycled through different clothing styles, all covering the head, before settling on a wavy cloaked that covered her eyes and a long tunic. Her color returned and a blue-skinned, most certainly _not corrupted_ gem appeared and fell to the ground.

She hit the ground hard and fell to her hands and knees. Amethyst hesitated, then reached a hand out to her. "Hey," she said. "You alright?" Maybe she could be reasoned with.

The gem looked up. Amethyst couldn't see her eyes under her cloak, but the rest of her face contorted in anger. "You," the gem said, in a deep voice. "You..."

She picked herself off the ground, slowly. Amethyst backed away. She was huge – taller than Garnet, maybe even taller than Rose! "You," she said, "are a Crystal Gem, and an enemy to Homeworld. Consider it an honor that I, Blue Diamond, will be the one to break you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember when I started this fic in october and didn't update it again? yeah uh sorry about that. here's the next chapter
> 
> also, I edited the relationship tags. there's still gonna be like 100000 ships (ok only 24 technically, but) I just decided to add the tags once the relationships appear, rather than adding them as the characters appear
> 
> but Apparently I can't write shipping fic bc this isn't going to be very shippy for a few more chapters?? oh well

Blue Diamond reached to the gem on her chest and grasped the handle that emerged from it. She was taking her time summoning her weapon, which gave Amethyst time to act.

She cracked her whip and wrapped it around a pole, ripping it out of place and throwing it at Blue Diamond, knocking her down. Amethyst hopped out of the way of the debris and grabbing another pole with her whip. The ceiling was sagging where she had torn out the first one. Good; she'd bring the whole house down on top of Blue Diamond, and then she'd get the heck out of there!

"You _dare_  –" Her weapon fully summoned – a scythe – Blue Diamond stood up again and _snarled_. "Do you have _no respect?_ "

"Respect? You said you were gonna break me!" The second pole didn't hit its mark, Blue Diamond gracefully stepping out of the way and backing up. She was between Amethyst and the remaining poles, now. Amethyst gritted her teeth.

The corner of Blue Diamond's mouth twitched. "You're certainly an Amethyst."

"Yeah, so?" She was running out of options. Blue Diamond was too big to just toss around, though that didn't mean she couldn't try. But the other gem wasn't making a move just yet.

"Why do you wear her insignia? You should be fighting for Homeworld."

"Homeworld left, yo! They were all gone by the time I popped out."

Blue Diamond's expression changed; still tense, but with less anger. "They left?"

"Yeah!" Amethyst said. "The war's over – and you lost!"

It occurred to her right after the words left her mouth that she probably shouldn't be antagonizing a Diamond. Amethyst didn't know much about Diamonds, other than that they were the rulers of gemkind. That probably meant they were strong? Blue Diamond took a direct hit from that first pole and just stood right back up again.

There were footsteps above them, running across the first floor. Amethyst glanced up at the ceiling, realized her mistake, and immediately focused her attention back on Blue Diamond – but Blue Diamond was looking up too, with a puzzled expression. Amethyst didn't know who was coming – Vidalia? Peridot? Garnet? – best case scenario was Garnet arriving as backup, but she couldn't be sure. If they were a human, they would be in danger.

So she had to beat Blue Diamond fast.

Amethyst lashed her whip towards Blue Diamond, aiming for her face. Blue Diamond grabbed the whip with her _bare hands_ and wrenched it out of Amethyst's grasp. Amethyst stumbled for a moment, then regained her balance and summoned another whip from her gem.

But she wasn't attacking her. Blue Diamond dropped the whip, straightened up out of her battle stance, and lowered her scythe. "How long have I been retreated?" she asked.

"Dunno," said Amethyst cautiously, keeping her guard up. "It's been, like, five thousand years or somethin'? Since the war, I mean."

"Five thousand years." Blue Diamond took a step forward. Amethyst took a step back.

The door to the basement slammed open. "Amethyst!" Vidalia shouted. "Are you –"

"Vidalia, get _out of here!_ " Amethyst shouted, keeping her eyes on Blue Diamond. The other gem turned to Vidalia, raised her scythe – Amethyst tried to sting it out of her hand, but Blue Diamond barely flinched.

_BANG_

Amethyst didn't see Vidalia shoot, but she saw the bullet hit Blue Diamond, who yelled and staggered back, clutching her shoulder. Her physical form warped and flickered, and Amethyst saw her chance; she cracked her whip and –

Before Amethyst's whip could make contact, Blue Diamond vanished.

"Wha – ?"

The word had barely left her mouth when a hand gripped her shoulder and Blue Diamond's voice said, "I'll deal with you later."

* * *

Vidalia had brought Peridot back to the vehicle and locked her inside.

"Hey!" Peridot shouted when the door wouldn't open, no matter how hard she pulled on the handle. "Let me out!"

"Not happening," Vidalia said. Peridot heard her opening the back compartment. "I don't appreciate the way you were talking to Amethyst back there. So you're staying here until I get back. Man, thank god for child safety locks."

"Until you get back? Back from where?"

The compartment slammed shut and Peridot peered out the back window to see Vidalia holding her gun – her _weapon_. "I'm going to help! I don't know much about gem stuff, but I do know that if I just sit here and do _nothing_ – what kind of friend would I be?"

"You're a human! What can you possibly do against a corrupted gem? Hey!" she shouted as Vidalia turned and ran back to the house. "At least let me out first!"

Vidalia didn't respond, and Peridot watched her disappear inside the house.

Peridot groaned and slumped down on the seat. She didn't stay there for long; quickly, she sat up again and began scrambling around the inside. She was _not_ going to stay trapped in here forever! Both the rear doors were locked, but what about the –

As soon as the right front door opened, an alarm pierced her ears. Peridot yelped and slammed the door back shut. When this didn't stop the sound, she decided it would be best to get out of there as soon as possible.

Still, once outside the vehicle, she hesitated. She didn't want to go back to the Crystal Gems, not after finding out what they did to White Diamond – the mere thought made her shudder. White Diamond, corrupted and trapped in the bubble dungeon – it was _unthinkable._ Certainly, they had been traitors before this, but Peridot had thought they would at least have some respect for the highest leaders of gemkind!

Except she couldn't go anywhere else. If she ran, they would find her and bring her back, and her treatment after pulling a stunt like that would be _subpar_ at best. Peridot gritted her teeth. Fine, then, she would stay with the Crystal Gems, but she would not _trust_ them. No more collaborative efforts with Pearl, no more being "cool" with Amethyst, no more hanging out with Steven – well, no, Steven was innocent, but no more of anything like that with the others.

A loud _BANG_ sounded from inside the house, making Peridot jump. Amethyst and the human could not _possibly_ take down a corrupted gem on their own – much less a corrupted _Diamond_ , if it really was Blue Diamond they had found. They would need help. She would have to either go back them up there herself, or go back to the Crystal Gems' base and tell Garnet what had happened.

Peridot considered what she would rather face: a corrupted gem – possibly a corrupted Diamond – with Amethyst and a human, or an angry Garnet, alone.

She decided to go in the house.

* * *

Amethyst abruptly found herself in a warp stream.

She realized through her panic that it wasn't an ordinary warp stream – this one was much smaller, and her hands grazed the edges when she flailed about. She also couldn't direct the stream – where it was taking her, she didn't know, but it looked like she had no choice about going there. She considered diving outside the stream and waiting for someone to find her, but before she could do anything, she was dumped onto the hard surface of a warp pad.

Instantly, she scrambled to her feet in the dim light, clutching her whip, and tried to warp again, but nothing happened. "Oh no –"

"Amethyst!"

Pearl's arms wrapped around her, and Amethyst squeaked in surprise. "I'm so sorry!" Pearl said. "I thought it would just be an ordinary gem, but I was wrong, I'm so sorry, Amethyst!" She let go and leaned back. "What happened? Where are the others?"

"The gem was Blue Diamond," Amethyst said. "She regenerated and she wasn't corrupted. We fought for a bit, then she warped me here or somethin'."

Pearl gasped. She opened her mouth and closed it again, at an utter loss for words.

"Is Mom okay?"

Amethyst looked over Pearl's shoulder to see the three kids they had been looking for. Buck was sitting against the wall of the stone room with a flashlight, his expression unreadable through his shades, while Jenny and Sour Cream were standing up, looking at her.

"Uh," Amethyst said. "Dunno. Last I saw –"

The warp pad lit up again, and Vidalia was unceremoniously dumped on top of Amethyst and Pearl. As the three of them disentangled themselves, Sour Cream ran up to them. "Mom!"

"Sour Cream? Is that you?" Vidalia stood up and pulled him close in a hug. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? You're freezing! Are the other two okay?"

"We're fine," Jenny said. "Probably. Kinda hungry, though. We haven't eaten in, like, a day."

"Damn, if I had known, I'd have brought some food with me." Vidalia stepped off the warp pad and crossed her arms. "Now what were you all thinking, exploring an abandoned house like that?"

The three teenagers groaned in unison. "Mom," Sour Cream began.

"I don't want to hear it!" Vidalia shouted. "Look at you! You got yourself mixed up in dangerous gem stuff, not to mention that going into abandoned houses is dangerous _and illegal_. What if you had gotten in trouble? What would we have done then?"

"C'mon, we just wanted to have fun," Buck said.

"We didn't actually expect there to be a weird, magic, teleporting gem thing," Jenny said.

"Do we really have to talk about this now?" said Sour Cream.

"Honestly, I'm with your kid on this one," Amethyst said. "We've got a big problem on our hands, and we don't have time to be yelling at each other, much as they might deserve it. Pearl? You okay?"

Pearl was covering her mouth, her eyes wide in fear. "Was it really Blue Diamond?" she whispered. "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure, yeah. I mean, that's what she called herself." Amethyst frowned. "So what do we do? Where is this place? And how did she warp us here?"

Pearl took a few quick breaths and one big one before speaking. "Blue Diamond has the power to warp herself and others; the warp pads were her design. It's possible that her gem has a warping defense mechanism for when she's... out of commission."

"Okay," Amethyst said. "But where are we? And why doesn't this warp pad work?"

"It's keyed to her gem," Pearl said. "Only she can use it."

"Great, that's convenient. I take it you don't know where we are?"

Pearl hesitated. "No," she said. "I don't know."

"Well, we've gotta get out!" Amethyst turned to the wall and cracked her whip, hitting the stone uselessly. "If we can't warp out, we'll have to break out! Come on, Pearl, help me out here!"

"But –" Pearl wrung her hands. "We don't know where we are! We could be deep in the earth, we could be under the ocean – we're in Blue Diamond's prison, we could be anywhere! And the walls are solid rock – Amethyst, I don't think –"

Amethyst groaned and sat down hard. "Yeah, yeah, I guess  you're right. At least Peridot'll be able to go tell Garnet what happened."

"Oh," said Vidalia.

"Oh what?"

"I locked her in the car."

For a moment, Amethyst was silent. "So she'll have to break a window or somethin' to get out, she can still tell Garnet we're in trouble, right?"

Pearl was wringing her hands again. Amethyst looked at her. "Okay, what's the problem now?"

"Amethyst," Pearl said. "Peridot is a Homeworld gem. She may be stuck here on Earth with us, but she's still a Homeworld gem. If she has to choose between Blue Diamond or us... I don't think she'll choose us."

* * *

Peridot knew gemkind's history, the story of their three great leaders. She knew who was standing in front of her. Peridot squeaked in fear, acutely aware of her small size compared to Blue Diamond, and she took a step back.

Blue Diamond frowned. "You work under Yellow Diamond?" she said in a deep voice.

Peridot nodded quickly. "Y – yes!"

"Is she on this planet?"

"N – no!"

"I see." Blue Diamond looked around. "What kind of dwellings are these?"

"H – human dwellings," Peridot stammered. "This is a h – human city."

"So she was telling the truth. We really did lose the war." Blue Diamond sighed. "I don't recognize your gem," she said. "What kind are you?"

"Peridot! My name is – I am a – Peridot!"

"And your role?"

"Maintenance! I came to – to Earth to check on the status of the Cluster –"

"What is the Cluster?"

Peridot opened her mouth to answer and found herself at a loss for words.

Explain what the Cluster was, and she would have to tell Blue Diamond that she had helped destroy it. Lie, and Blue Diamond would find out the truth, one way or another. There was nothing she could do.

She was going to be shattered.

Her hesitation did not go unnoticed by Blue Diamond, and she frowned down at her. "Why are you here?" she said. "I just encountered a Crystal Gem and a human. What is your relation to them?"

"No relation! No relation!" Peridot said quickly. "They – the Crystal Gems – they were keeping me prisoner! They forced me to do it, I swear, I swear, I would never betray –"

"Enough."

Peridot stopped talking.

She could feel Blue Diamond's glare on her without seeing her eyes. "Take me to the Galaxy Warp," Blue Diamond said. "I am returning to Homeworld. You are coming with me."

"The – the Homeworld warp is down! I tried to fix it, but nothing's worked! I've been stuck on this planet for months, please believe me –"

"Down on which end?"

"Earth's!"

"A minor issue. If it is still functional on Homeworld, then I can fix it." Blue Diamond took a step forward. "Now _take me there_."

Peridot, terrified out of her mind, could do nothing but nod and obey.

* * *

Amethyst threw up her hands. "So we're doomed! Is _that_ what you're saying?"

"N – no..." Pearl said. "Steven could still tell Garnet, once he realizes we've been gone for too long. We just – just need to wait."

"I'm already sick of waiting!" Amethyst crossed her arms. "What happens if Blue Diamond gets here first? What do we do then? We can't just sit around and wait for that to happen!"

"I don't know!" Pearl blurted out. "We can't do anything while we're stuck here! We have to wait until Garnet finds us, that's all we can do."

Amethyst decided to let the subject drop. "Fine," she said. "We'll wait."

They waited. Vidalia took out her phone and cursed when there was no reception. Jenny and Sour Cream sat down on either side of Buck and the three of them huddled together. It was cold in the prison, but not too cold, Amethyst noted. If it were too cold, the kids would have gotten hypothermia by now.

"I think we're probably close to the surface," Amethyst said.

"The surface of what?" Vidalia asked.

"I dunno, just like, we're not underground or underwater. It'd probably be colder if we were. Maybe the sun is shining on us?"

"You might be right," said Pearl.

Amethyst cracked a smile, then looked at the warp pad. "So like, is Blue Diamond gonna warp in here? We could ambush her when she does."

"Hardly an ambush if she knows we're here," Vidalia said.

"Aw, shuddup."

"I don't think she's going to warp in here, Amethyst," Pearl said. "I think the warp pad is just necessary for us to be warped here in the first place."

"She said she was going to deal with me later. She kinda has to warp in here to do that."

"But... this is a prison cell. Why would she warp into a cell holding people she knows will attack her?"

"If she won't," Amethyst said, "then she's gotta deal with us somehow. If she just left people in here forever, then there probably would've been a corrupted gem in here with us. Or like, a bunch."

Vidalia spoke up again. "Are you saying there might be a way to get out?"

Amethyst shrugged. "Maybe? There's gotta be some way for her to get in, that's all I'm saying."

"Well, it's worth a shot." Vidalia started patting the walls, but Buck shook his head.

"We already tried that," he said. "We couldn't find anything."

"Maybe we'll catch something you missed."

Amethyst groaned and flopped on the ground, staring up at the ceiling. She glared up at it, then frowned. "Hey," she said, "can you shine your flashlight up?"

Buck obliged, pointing his flashlight at the ceiling. Now illuminated, Amethyst could make out grooves and scuff-marks against the edge of one of the walls. She glanced at Pearl, who was following her gaze, eyes widening.

"Does the ceiling move?" Pearl wondered out loud.

"Can we find out?" Amethyst responded.

Pearl stood up and put a hand to her gem. With a flash of light, she summoned her spear and jammed the point into a crack between the ceiling and the wall. With a great deal of effort, she manipulated the spear until, with a horrible, grating noise, the stone ceiling began to move.

Amethyst whooped. "Yeah! You go, Pearl!"

Pearl smiled, her face scrunched up in concentration. Bit by bit, she opened the ceiling more and more, revealing another, larger room above them. Finally, the ceiling was opened enough for Amethyst to climb out, tossing one end of her whip down to pull the rest up.

"Alright!" she said. "We're almost out!"

After making sure the ceiling wouldn't slam shut when she did so, Pearl sighed and took her spear away. "We still need to find out where we are," she said, grabbing the end of Amethyst's whip and letting herself be hoisted up. "Then we need to get back to Steven and bring him back to the temple to tell Garnet what happened. If Blue Diamond is here, and if she's not corrupted... well, it's not good news for us."

"Yeah," said Amethyst. "I figured out that much when she tried to kill me."

"Right."

Once they were all out of the prison cell, Pearl looked around. "I think I recognize this place," she said. "We might be under the Galaxy Warp. Everyone, this way!"


End file.
